Rotary kiln sampler

ABSTRACT

A sampler is attached to a porthole in the side of a rotary processing chamber such as cement kiln so as to describe a circle and revolve as the chamber rotates. During such rotation, sample material falls from the chamber into an inlet segment of a conduit in the sampler, passes round a loop in the conduit and discharges from an outlet segment at the completion of a revolution. The sampler may take the form of a single continuous curved tube or may be formed by joining separate sections of pipe or tube.

United States Patent l C: i I

I l l E l i (50] Field oiSearch 263/33 R. 53,53 A;2l4/l8RK;73/42l R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l,8 30,002 I l/l93l Schifierle 263/33 2.002.972 5/1935 Avnsoe 263/33 Primary Examiner-John J. Camby Attorney-Baldwin, Wight & Brown ABSTRACT: A sampler is attached to a porthole in the side of a rotary processing chamber such as cement kiln so as to describe a circle and revolve as the chamber rotates. During such rotation, sample material falls from the chamber into an inlet segment of a conduit in the sampler, passes round a loop in the conduit and discharges from an outlet segment at the completion of a revolution. The sampler may take the form of a single continuous curved tube or may be formed by joining separate sections of pipe or tube.

PATENTEU AUGIOIBH 3,598.377

SHEET 1 [IF 4 PATENT El] AUG] 0 IBTI I SHEET 2 BF 4 ROTARY KILN SAMPLER The invention relates to an improved apparatus for sampling granular material being subjected to 'heat treatment in a rotating processor such as a rotary cement kiln.

The two sampling'methods normally used hitherto are:

a. To allow material to fall freely, from a porthole in the side of the kiln, to the floor. The material then has to be shpvelled into tins. This method is messy and dangerous, and the material isexposed to the atmosphere for an excessive length of time, with the attendant risk that the sa ple may alter. g

b. The thicf" sampler method, in which concentric tubes, closed at one end and having a slot down their length, the

inner tube being connected to external handles, are

pushed into a hole in the side of the kiln. The slot of the outer tube is aligned as required. The inner tube is then rotated by means of the handles so that the slots coincide to,allow entry of material from the kiln into the inner tube. The slot is then closed by turning the inner tube again and the sample or an inner container holding it is removed. This latter system is better than (a) but the kiln has to be stopped and restarted twice within a very short period (one revolution) and therefore the sample obtained may not be representative of normal running conditions.

It is an object of the present invention to providean apparatus for sampling granular material undergoing treatment in a rotating processor whereby a sample representative of normal running conditions may conveniently be obtained without interrupting the action of the processor.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus enabling performance of a method of sampling kiln material, whereby the material can be supplied directly from the kiln to a container and excessive stopping and starting of the kiln is eliminated.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of sampler apparatus for attachment to a rotating processor to obtain a representative sample of granular material undergoing treatment therein.

According to the present invention a sampler for attachment to a rotary processing chamber comprises a conduit having an inlet segment adapted to receive material directly from the processor, an outlet segment for discharge of sampled material parallel to the inlet segment, and a transfer seg ment joining said segments to form a loop therewith.

The conduit may take the form of a continuous single curved tube embodying the three looped segments. It is, however, easier in practice to make up the conduit by joining separate sections of pipe or tube, which may be straight, at an gles appropriate to form the two segments and the loop. In that case the conduit preferably comprises a straight inlet segment adapted to receive material directly from the processor, a straight outlet segment for discharge of sampled material substantially parallel to and lying at least partly alongside the inlet segment, and a third segment lying alongside both the other two segments and joined at its two ends by transverse passageways to the inlet and outlet segments respectively so that the portions of the three segments lying alongside one another together with the transverse passageways form said loop.

According to the invention the sampler is attached to the side of the rotary processor so that the inlet segment communicates with a port in the processor and as the latter rotates, the sampler describes a circle and is itself revolved, whereby sampled material falls into the inlet segment when the latter is below the processor, passes round the loop as the conduit is carried round and over the processor and falls to the outlet segment as the conduit returns to its lowest position. The sampler is, of course, fitted with the loop direction appropriate to the direction of falling material according to the sense of rotation. l

(til

Thus in the case of the continuous curved tube the sampled material may progress in a virtually continuous manner through the conduit from inlet to outlet under the influence of gravity as the processor rotates.

In the case where the conduit is formed in sections the sampled material progresses through the conduit in stages which may be controlled by the alignment of transverse passages, which may be normal to the three segments or at various angles to the segments so as to promote motion of definite amounts of material through the conduit without falling back.

The invention is especially applicable where the rotary processor is a rotary cement kiln.'By using the sampler according to the invention, representative samples of material undergoing heat treatment may be readily extracted from the kiln at any desired stage without interrupting the kiln process.

The'invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given for the purpose of illustration and do not limit the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. I shows diagrammatically a rotary kiln in sectional end elevation with a sampler according to the invention in the form of a continuous curved tube attached below; a subsequent position of the sampler being shown in dotted lines above the kiln.

FIG. 2 shows diagrammatically the tube of FIG. I in side elevation.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a sampler according to the invention in which the conduit is formed from sections of straight tube.

FIG. ,4 depicts the sampler of FIG. 3 in the position corresponding to that of FIG. I below the kiln, the sampler being shown as a section on the line 7.Z of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 depicts the sampler of FIG. 3 in the position corresponding to that of FIG. I above the kiln, the sampler being shown as a section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the sampler of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevation of a sampler similar to that of FIG. 3 modified by an extension to the inlet segment.

The action of the sampler will now be described in relation to thepassage of sampled material through-the conduit in the various embodiments illustrated, in which corresponding parts are indicated by thesame reference letters.

The conduit illustrated is clamped to a porthole in the wall L of a rotary kiln member so as to project radially and to rotate with the kiln. An inlet segment A penetrates the porthole to the kiln interior M. The sampler is aligned according to the direction of kiln rotation, as will be more fully understood later. When, by virtue of the rotation of the kiln, the sampler, in its entirety, passes below the axis of rotation of the kiln and beneath the bed of material under treatment in the kiln (see FIGS. I and 4) at least the inlet segment A-B fills with material R descending through the segment II. A sample S of this material will fall from B as rotation continues, through the next part B-C of the conduit and thence into the intermediate transfer segment 0-D. When the sampler reaches a position above the axis of the kiln, (as shown dotted in FIG. I and as shown in FIG. 5), the sample falls through the transfer segment G l) and the inlet segment discharges excess material back into the kiln as shown at N. As the kiln continues to rotate, a finite sample is transferred from D, through the connecting passage to E, whence it falls through the outlet segment EF to the outlet F, when the sampler is below the axis of rotation of the kiln and approaches the bottom of the kiln again (FIGS. I and 4). It will thus be seen that sample material passes round a loop H B C D E K formed by segments of the conduit. In this way a small sample of the material in a kiln can be taken once every revolution without opening the kiln to the atmosphere, as long as the direction of the loop matches the rotational direction of the kiln i.o. clockwise in the illustrated embodiment. The size of the sample'is determined, as shown at P in FIG. 7, by the size of the connecting passages between the segments and by the tube diameter.

The inlet segment carries a clamping flange Q for attachment to the kiln. That partof. the inlet beyondthe flange and projecting into the kiln, may be made in varying shapes and lengths in order to sample at different parts of the bed of material.|The segment A-B may be lengthened beyond 8 (to G as in FIG. 7) so that the sample is not taken into C until this additional length of tube has filled up. A simple cover can be fitted to the outlet F, for example, by a bayonet fitting, to permit the fitting of the sampler to a kiln in which the gases are under pressure and to shut off the sampler when not required.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the connecting passages B-C and D-E of the sampler of FIG. 3, are sloped in relation to the other segments of the conduit so as to encourage progression of the sample round the loop, in a manner approximating the movement obtained in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The sample which falls from the outlet segment can of course be collected in any convenient manner in a convenient receptacle below the kiln.

Although it is generally necessary to stop the kiln to fit and remove the sampler, stopping the kiln to remove the sampler can be delayed until a convenient time.

The sampler is preferably made of heat-resisting steel tubing. A typical assembly of about 2 feet 6 inches overall made of 4-inch diameter tube can be used to sample about 3 lbs. per revolution.

Although the sampler has been described by reference to segments formed of tubes external to one another, it will be appreciated that the tube forming any particular segment may lie within the tube forming another segment as long as the resulting conduit provides the required loop.

lclaim:

I. A sampler for attachment to a rotary processing chamber comprising a conduit comprising a series of substantially parallel straight tubesjoined by transverse tubes and having an inlet segment to receive material directly from the chamber and an outlet segment for discharge of sampled material substantially parallel to the inlet segment, characterized in that a transfer segmentjoins said segments to form a loop therewith.

2. A sampler for attachment to a rotary processing chamber comprising a straight inlet segment adapted to receive material directly from the chamber, a straight outlet segment for discharge of sampled materialsubstantially parallel to and lying at least partly alongside the inlet segment, characterized by a'third segment lying alongside both the other two segments and joined at its two ends by transverse passageways to the inlet and outlet-segments respectively so that the contiguous segments and passageways form a loop.

'3. A sampler as claimed in claim 2 further characterized by an extension to the inlet segment beyond the loop.

4. A sampler according to claim 2 comprising three at least partly contiguous parallel tubes each of which provides one of said segments and one of which carries means for attachment to a processing chamber wall aperture.

5. The combination of a rotary member providing a chamber for containing material to be processed; and a sampler attached to said member and being rotatable therewith to pass from below the axis of rotation of the rotary member to above said axis and then below said axis and so on during rotation of said member, said sampler comprising a conduit having an inlet segment open to said chamber for receiving sample material therefrom, an outlet segment substantially parallel to said inlet segment for discharging sample material, and a transfer segment connecting said inlet and outlet segments to form a loop therewith, said sampler in its entirety at all times being on one side only of said axis of rotation, whereby when said sampler is below said axis of rotation during one revolution of said member said loop will receive a finite sample which will be carried by said loop above said axis and which will be discharged from said loop and outlet segment when the sampler is again below said axis.

6. The combination according to claim 5 in which said rotary member is a cement kiln.

7. The combination according to claim 5 in which said sampler is formed of a continuous tuba UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 3I598I377 Dated August 10, 1971 Inventor(S) Martin John Galliers It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the patent heading, change "45,705/68" to -45, 703/68-- Signed and sealed this ltth day of April 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents ORM PO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM-DC DOS'IG-F'GP Q U.S GOVERNMENT PRINTVNG OFFICE r ill O-J5i-3Sl 

1. A sampler for attachment to a rotary processing chamber comprising a conduit comprising a series of substantially parallel straight tubes joined by transverse tubes and having an inlet segment to receive material directly from the chamber and an outlet segment for discharge of sampled material substantially parallel to the inlet segment, characterized in that a transfer segment joins said segments to form a loop therewith.
 2. A sampler for attachment to a rotary processing chamber comprising a straight inlet segment adapted to receive material directly from the chamber, a straight outlet segment for discharge of sampled material substantially parallel to and lying at least partly alongside the inlet segment, characterized by a third segment lying alongside both the other two segments and joined at its two ends by transverse passageways to the inlet and outlet segments respectively so that the contiguous segments and passageways form a loop.
 3. A sampler as claimed in claim 2 further characterized by an extension to the inlet segment beyond the loop.
 4. A sampler according to claim 2 comprising three at least partly contIguous parallel tubes each of which provides one of said segments and one of which carries means for attachment to a processing chamber wall aperture.
 5. The combination of a rotary member providing a chamber for containing material to be processed; and a sampler attached to said member and being rotatable therewith to pass from below the axis of rotation of the rotary member to above said axis and then below said axis and so on during rotation of said member, said sampler comprising a conduit having an inlet segment open to said chamber for receiving sample material therefrom, an outlet segment substantially parallel to said inlet segment for discharging sample material, and a transfer segment connecting said inlet and outlet segments to form a loop therewith, said sampler in its entirety at all times being on one side only of said axis of rotation, whereby when said sampler is below said axis of rotation during one revolution of said member said loop will receive a finite sample which will be carried by said loop above said axis and which will be discharged from said loop and outlet segment when the sampler is again below said axis.
 6. The combination according to claim 5 in which said rotary member is a cement kiln.
 7. The combination according to claim 5 in which said sampler is formed of a continuous tube. 